Hard Riders
by zubaba
Summary: Sonic and his friends meet Grey the Hedgehog a young hedgehog with a love for racing and Extreme Gear. Takes place after the events of Sonic Free Riders. Rated M for language and possible pairings later. I welcome any and all reviews and ideas.
1. Chapter 1

Sonic and his friends were gathering for the latest race for the year, Tails was tuning their Gear when he noticed a large truck pull up to the bays.

"I wonder who that is?" he asked watching as a grey person stepped out of the cabin,

"No clue, Tails" said sonic now looking over at the truck,

Grey stepped out of his truck when he arrived at the race track; he knew that the famous Sonic the Hedgehog would be racing so he jumped at the opportunity to race him, Grey walked around the truck to the back and unlocked it revealing an array of Extreme Gear: boards, skates, bikes, air riders and a ton of parts all over the walls and shelves.

"Which Gear should I use today?" Grey asked himself as he stepped into the trailer,

"Would it make a difference?" asked a voice outside,

Grey turned around to see Knuckles the Echidna standing at outside the trailer arms crossed staring at him, closely followed by Sonic and Tails. Grey couldn't believe that Team Sonic was talking to him, he smiled.

"Well to win a race you need the right Gear" explained Grey turning to face the group holding his red and black goggles.

"Well that is true" agreed Tails "you have a lot of Gear"

Grey smiled as he looked over the board Tails was holding, a sun yellow board he made himself.

"I believe in being prepared for a race just like you" stated Grey picking up a board,

A look of confusion appeared on Tails face "what do you mean by that?"

Grey put the board down and picked up a pair of skates "I mean only someone who wants to be prepared works on their gear just before a race".

Sonic smiled at Grey "let the best man win…Uhh?"

"Call me Grey" said the hedgehog "Grey the Hedgehog"

"Well Grey the Hedgehog" said Sonic turning around and walking away "good luck today"

"Same to you Sonic the Hedgehog"


	2. Chapter 2

The crowd roared with delight as the start of the race drew closer, Grey stood on the track staring at the cheering masses, the lights shone bright and sounds echoed throughout the arena, to his left Grey saw Sonic, Knuckles and Tails ready to go and on his right were the beautiful Rouge and her Gear _Temptation_, Blaze the Cat, Amy Rose and Shadow the Hedgehog who Grey noticed almost looked like him.

"Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Spring Cherry Blossom Race" the announcer's voice boomed over the crowds cheering "as you know the EX World Grand Prix is 2 races away and only 3 places left to fill, 5 of the 8 racers today are already qualified so let's see how it goes today",

Grey lined up with the rest of the riders wearing a set of Air Skates while everyone else was using Air Boards, just as the race was about to start Grey walked up to the electric barrier and gets into a runner position, Sonic and the others stared in confusion at him as a horn sounded and the green beam began to move.

The race began, Grey shot off the line as his gear activated propelling him forward with blinding speed, the crowd cheered as the racers left the arena and onto the track with Grey in the lead closely followed by Sonic and the other racers. The first turn appeared quickly and the riders curved around it switching places with each other as they went.

Sonic pulled up next to Grey as they zoomed down the track passed hundreds of cherry blossom trees,

"You're pretty good Grey" said Sonic inching ahead of Grey

"You too" he replied keeping up with Sonic,

Grey noticed something up ahead and smiled; peeling away from sonic he jumped onto a grind rail and zipped away taking a different route from the others.

As Grey came off the rail the other racers appeared from around the corner with Shadow and Sonic together in the lead closely followed by Rouge and Tails, Grey darted in next to Shadow knocking him away.

"You're going to pay for that you little shit" growled Shadow hitting his afterburner,

"If you can catch me" laughed Grey also activating his afterburner,

The racers twisted and turned along the track taking advantage of the few shortcuts there were blitzing past the start/finish line over the laps coming down to the last lap, in the lead was Grey with Shadow close at his heels with sonic a couple of yards behind followed by Knuckles, Tails, Rouge, Blaze with Amy pulling up the rear.

Grey rounded the final corner closely followed by Shadow and Sonic, the crowd roared with delight as the 3 hedgehogs entered the arena,

ZOOM. ZOOM. ZOOM.

The race was over with a photo finish, the crowd stood waiting for the results,

"Ladies and gentlemen the system has reviewed the footage and the winner is by 0.02 of a second" called the announcer everyone stood waiting "GREY THE HEDGEHOG",

The crowd was deafening, cheers exploded everywhere as Grey was announce the winner qualifying him for the EX World Grand Prix, Sonic came up and patted Grey on the back,

"Great race man" he said,

"You too Sonic" replied Grey.

As Grey was packing up his gear Shadow appeared behind him,

"You got lucky today, rookie" he stated arms crossed,

"That is your opinion" said Grey turning to face the black hedgehog,

"I will get you next time" said Shadow his red eyes glaring at Grey before leaving,

Grey removed his goggles as he got into the cab of his truck,

"You better be careful of him you know" said a voice,

Grey looked out the window to see Rouge standing next to the truck,

"We shall see wont we" replied Grey running his eyes over Rouge's body taking it in,

"Cool it Hot-rod" smiled Rouge "you got no chance yet"

Picking up on the meaning of what she said Grey smiled

"I hope I do soon" he said as he began driving off "see ya cutie".


End file.
